Too Far Gone
by Lynessence
Summary: Her life was perfect till Lotor ruined it. Amazing parents & a fun little brother but he took them too. Now she's out for revenge at any cost, including her life. Can her childhood friends save her before she's too far gone?


Keith and Allura walked happily through the gardens with their six-year-old daughter, Starlene (commonly known as Starlie), going on ahead of them chasing practically anything that moved.

"Mom! Dad! Look!" exclaimed Starlie running up to them. She had raven black hair like her father and sparkling blue eyes like her mother. She was a very bright girl and well above the average intelligence level for her age. "Look at these flowers!" She showed them the small, dark blue flowers that sparkled in the light.

"My, what beautiful flowers they are," said Allura smiling sweetly down at her daughter. 'Oh, Keith. She's so precious!'

"Almost as beautiful as you, sweetie." Keith smiled down at Starlie and then started to tickle her. 'I agree, love. She's one the most precious thing in the all the galaxies.'

"You're so silly!" giggled Starlie as she started running away from Keith who playfully chased after her.

'It's so nice to get away from all those royal duties once in a while. Isn't it?' sent Allura.

'Yeah, I'm so swamped with all these affairs of state. Who knew there was so much paper work involved with Galaxy Garrison? Then there's the council to deal with.' sent Keith as he snatched Starlie up in his arms.

'I know. Nanny's being such a pain too. Don't get me wrong, I love her dearly, but she has got to learn that I can help you rule Arus and raise my daughter at the same time.'

'Uh, oh. What did Nanny do now?'

'Yesterday I was walking past Starlie's room and I heard her screaming. I went to check on her and I found Nanny trying to dress her in this bright pink frilly dress.'

'I bet that didn't go well. Really, you'd would think that after six years Nanny would understand that Starlie doesn't like pink.' Keith shook his head. "So I hear that Nanny tired to get you into a dress."

"Yeah, it was pink too. She doesn't understand, I don't like pink or dresses. Especially the frilly ones, I mean, how does she expect me to walk in them?" asked Starlie. "But I took care of that problem."

Keith and Allura looked at each other and then at her. "How?"

"I buried all the pink stuff in the forest," said Starlie. She smiled and beamed with a sense of accomplishment.

"Well, that explains why I felt that something was off this morning. I knew her closet didn't seem full enough," said Allura.

"Well, it was going to happen one way or another," sighed Keith. "I honestly don't even what to think what she'll do with the girly stuff when she's older and has more access to things."

Allura involuntarily shuddered. "Let's not go there."

"Dad? Can I go play with the others?" asked Starlie pointing over to where her cousins of sorts were playing. They weren't her biological cousins but they were all very close because they were the sons and daughters of the V-force.

"Sure sweetie," said Keith setting her down. Starlie ran off towards her cousins.

"Um…Keith?" asked Allura.

"Yes love?"

"Well….what would you say if I said I wanted to give Starlie a sibling?" Allura bit down nervously on her lip.

"I would say I'm all for it." Keith looked down at her playfully.

"Well…what would you say if I told you that this sibling was already on the way?"

"Really? That's great Allura!" exclaimed Keith as he picked her up and spun her around. Then he pulled her in for a nice long kiss.

"I hope it's a mini version of you," giggled Allura when he finally broke of their kiss.

"How far along are you?" he asked.

"About a month and a half. I found out yesterday when I went to get a check up."

"Allura," said Keith knowing something was up. "You weren't due for a check up for another month or so and since when do you go to the doctor willingly?"

"Well…that's another thing….I went there because of Starlie."

"Huh?"

"She commented about not being able to wait for her new little brother to arrive. I asked her what she was talking about and she said that I was expecting. I didn't believe her at first, but then it kept nagging me so I went and…well…sure enough, I'm expecting."

"This is great, but how did Starlie know?"

"I have no idea. I'm not exactly sure how to find out either…"

"Not a problem, love. We'll just ask her."

"Okay….um…Keith?"

"Yes darling?"

"Could we not tell Nanny about this until it's absolutely necessary?"

"Of course, we won't tell anyone until you want to. But why the secrecy?"

"Don't you remember what happened when we told Nanny about Starlie?"

"Oh yeah. She started treating you like glass and you let her have it. It's a good thing you had that mood swing excuse to get you out of that one. I believe that's when we finally decided she needed a long vacation."

"I think we'll be sending her on another one of those."

"You read my mind," said Keith and then he pulled her in for a kiss.

"No, now why don't you go play tea party with the girls," said Elron, Lance and Alexandra's son. He had brown hair and bright green eyes.

"Yuck! I don't want to play tea party! That's for sissies!" exclaimed Starlie. "I want to go climbing!"

"You're too young to go climbing," said Elron.

"Am not! Jason's going and he's as old as me!" Starlie glared defiantly up at her older cousin of sorts.

"Look, we don't want some pathetic little girl tagging along and getting in our way. Now go do something that's appropriate for a girl your age."

Starlie growled up at him. "I'll show you who's in the way!" she screamed and then kicked him in the shin so hard he fell to his knees. Then she ran off into the forest.

"Wow. If I knew that was how you were gonna handle it, I would have just done it myself," said Elron's twin, Aero. He had brown hair and brown eyes. "I mean really. Why do you have such a problem with her coming anyway? We could just make sure she climbed the trees Jason does."

"Because she's a girl, and girls don't climb trees. They play with dolls, have tea parties, play dress up, that kind of thing."

"I know she's a girl, but she isn't a normal one. She likes to do the things we do. Do you even remember that time when Nanny tried to make her act like a real girl? Don't you remember what she did?"

"I remember that!" laughed Seth, Hunk and Nicole's son. He had brown hair and brown eyes. "She locked herself in her room, shredded the dress, and then proceeded to burn it while making sure she was in full view of the security camera. It was hilarious."

"Didn't she get in trouble?" asked Tyler, Sven and Romelle's eight-year-old son who was visiting for the week. He had black hair and blue eyes.

"Actually, no," said Aero. "Her parents were away and she somehow managed to erase the footage so there was no proof that she did it."

"How'd she manage that one?" asked Tyler.

"No one's really sure," said Seth.

"And we all kept silent about it. All the adults think that Nanny's beginning to snap," said Ramon, Sven and Romelle's seven-year-old son. He had his mother's hair color and his father's eyes.

"Anyway, my point is, she's different. She's not your normal, everyday girl," said Aero.

"Yeah….well….it's too late anyway," said Elron. "Let's just get climbing, okay?" He hated being wrong.

"Sure, whatever. I just hope you're ready to face her when she comes back. Because you can bet as sure as hell that she's gonna come back with a vengeance," said Aero.

"Hmpf. I'll show him who can't climb," muttered Starlie as she ran off towards the spot with some of the best climbing trees as well as the highest. I'll prove I'm just as good if not better than them, she thought as she stopped at the base of the tallest tree, or rather, tallest trees. The tallest tree didn't have branches at the base so it was necessary to climb the tree next to it and then jump to the first branch on the larger one. The larger tree shot up and rose over a hundred yards above ground. The smaller one started about five feet from the base of the larger and shot up to a little under where the branches started on the larger. If one climbed all the way to the top of the smaller tree and then made the treacherous leap to a certain branch, one could climb to the top of the larger tree.

Starlie took a deep breath and began the climb. She knew that even her cousins of sorts, the ones that were two years older than she was, had not yet attempted to climb this tree. Therefore, it made sense, to her, to climb this tree to prove herself to them.

She was a good three fourths up the first tree when she heard someone call to her.

"Hey! Shouldn't you have a partner or something with you?" someone asked.

Starlie looked down. There she saw a boy with shaggy white hair and pointy elf-like ears. He had a very pale skin tone. It was practically white, but hinted at some blue. She concluded that he could not be more than a two years older than her.

"I guess I should," she called down, "But nobody will climb with me because I'm a girl and according to my retarded cousin, girls don't climb trees."

"Well that's stupid," he said and then after a pause he added, "Well, we're kinda in the same predicament. Nobody will play with me 'cause I look different."

"That's really stupid," she said. "I mean, I can sorta understand the whole girl thing because of all the stereotypes, but if they don't like you 'cause you're different, then they're just a bunch of idiots."

The boy smiled. "So…. what's your name?" he asked.

"I'm Starlie. You?" she asked.

"Conner."

"How old are you?"

"Seven," he said. "How 'bout you?"

"I'm six," she said. There was a small silence before she added, "You wanna climb up here and then we can conquer this tree together?"

"Sure!" Conner eagerly began climbing the tree and in no time he was up to where Starlie was. From there they climbed to the top of the first tree.

"Let me go first," said Conner. "I'm pretty sure I can make it. Then I can help you just in case you can't get there."

"I'll be able to get there. You just worry about yourself," said Starlie. She motioned for him to go right ahead. Conner did so and made it, but he did sway a little after he pulled himself up before regaining his balance.

"Back up a little," called Starlie, "I'm gonna get a running start and I'm not sure how high I'll go."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" asked Conner, his voice full of concern. "Are you sure you can keep you balance while running? Is that branch even large enough to run on?"

"Don't worry," said Starlie confidently, "I don't lose my balance very easily. It'll be fine."

"I don't know…"

"Relax, Conner. Now back up a little."

Conner hesitated, but backed up. Starlie took a few careful steps back and then ran forward. At the end of the branch she sprang up and actually went a lot higher than she expected. She grabbed hold of the branch above the one that Conner was on. Her grip, however, was not secure and slipped almost instantly. She landed on top of the original branch, which knocked the wind out of her. She began to slide off but thankfully Conner was there and he grabbed her had before she fell. He helped her scramble up onto the branch.

"Are you okay!?" he asked urgently.

"Yeah," she said between gasps. "I'll…(*gasp*)…be…(*gasp*)…okay." Starlie took several deep breaths in order to regulate her breathing.

"You sure?" asked Conner. "You hit that branch really hard. I think I heard a crack." Conner looked at her nervously.

"Really? I thought I heard three cracks," she said as if it was no big deal. "Huh…maybe I just broke one and bruised the rest…" Starlie began to feel around her rib cage. "One...two… …three…." She winced every time she said a number. "Oh, great. I broke three of them!"

"Three what?" asked Conner hoping his guess was wrong.

"Ribs! Ugh," she groaned. "How am I supposed to hide this from my parents?!"

"How do you know?"

"Huh? Oh, I've read several books about anatomy and such and I can feel them too."

"That's not good…"

"You're telling me. I'm gonna have to find some way to get this past my parents…."

"Why don't you just tell them?" he asked. Then he hesitantly added, "Or are they like my dad and will tell you to just suck it up and deal with it? Will they get mad at you for causing trouble?"

"I don't tell them because I don't want to cause them any trouble. They love me to death, but right now, they don't need the stress. Mom has to my little brother on the way and Dad has to take care of Mom and keep up with his work. They…..wait…your dad actually treats you like that?!"

Conner sighed. "Yeah…."

"Why?"

"I'm not the son he wanted….well, no, that's not entirely true. I'm a son and he wanted that, but he didn't want the mother I had to be the mother. He's obsessed with this other girl who's already married. It's really tiring and the only reason I'm alive is because wants to make sure his lineage continues….just in case."

Starlie stared at him with her big, round eyes. "That's terrible. Please don't take offense, but your father is a bastard."

"None taken, I agree with you. I hate him. But what can I do about it? He's my dad, no matter how much I hate him and no matter how much of a bastard he is, I can't change that fact."

"Unfortunately, you're right. However, you can be your own person. I think that as you grow up, don't follow in his footsteps. Become the person you want to be, and learn from his mistakes. I'm sorry I can't give you a better dad, and believe me, I would if I could."

Starlie smiled at Conner, hoping to give her new friend hope. There was a bit of a silence as the pair thought over what each other had said. Starlie grew angry with Conner's father and Conner breathed a sigh of relief, glad that he had found someone who would see him as his own person and not as his father's son.

"You know what I believe," said Starlie, breaking the silence. "I believe that it's not who your parents are, that it's not where you come from or what your status is, that makes you, you. I believe that it's who you really are on the inside. I think that only you can decide how you're going to live and turn out. I mean, sure, you're influenced by your parents, where you come from, and your status in the world, but you can decide whether to let that limit you or not. For example, just because someone's a princess that doesn't mean they have to wear pink dresses and wait for some prince to save them when they're in trouble. They can do that, but it's their choice. They can also decide that they're going to do it themselves and get out of their own trouble. It's all a matter of what you let affect you."

Conner stared at Starlie. "Huh….you know, if all grown-ups thought like you maybe there wouldn't be as many problems in the world."

"I know, right?" laughed Starlie. She got up and offered Conner her hand. "If adults thought more like us, then we'd be a lot more advanced."

Conner took her hand and, temporarily forgetting her broken ribs, they started climbing again. Starlie hurt like hell moving, but she ignored the pain and pretended she was fine. She had read that pain was only partly physical, the rest was mental. So she told herself that it didn't hurt that much and it got easier for her to ignore her pain. They were about halfway up the second tree when Conner decided to start up another conversation.

"So," he said. "You wanna start with the basics?"

"Huh?" asked Starlie.

"You know, the basics," he said. "Like our favorite colors and foods and stuff like that….I mean….those are some of the basics of friendship, right?"

"Ohhh, I get it now," said Starlie. "Sure, I'll start. My favorite color would be green, not like a puke green or anything, but a rich green, or a neon bright green. I don't really have a favorite food….unless you divide the foods into categories, then I can tell you my favorites of those."

"Okay, my favorite color is blue," said Conner. "My favorite fruit is…kiwi."

"Hm….let's see…mine would have to be watermelon. My favorite flavor of ice cream is….mint."

"Mine's vanilla. Um…..let's see…..my favorite…..pasta is the bow tie noodles."

"Hey! That's mine too! Let's see…..my favorite sorbet is raspberry."

"Didn't we already cover ice cream?"

"Yes, but this is sorbet."

"There's a difference?"

"Yes, sorbet doesn't have any milk in it."

"Oh….well then….I guess mine would be lime. My favorite season is spring."

"Mine's autumn."

"Why?" asked Conner.

"Well, it's a combination of winter and summer. It's still warm but the smell in that air and the cool breezes hint at the coming winter. And it means that there'll be lots of leaves to jump in. So why's spring you favorite season?"

"Well….I guess it's because it stands for a new beginning. Winter has done away with the old and now the new and the better spring forth and give way to summer." Before they knew it, the two of them were in a deep conversation about why they liked what they did, the meanings behind it all, and how it reflected on them. Soon they were sitting at the top of the tree talking away the day. They sat there for quite some time simply talking about themselves and sharing their ideas and dreams. Both of them were startled when they heard a rather rude voice call out to them.

"Who are you and how the hell'd you get up there?!" Starlie immediately recognized the voice as Elron. The boys had managed to find their way to the grove, but not without getting lost several times along the way because Elron couldn't read a map to save his life and wouldn't let anyone else be in charge of leading the group.

"It's called climbing you idiot," Starlie yelled down.

"Who're you calling an idiot!?" Elron raged.

"Wait a minute," said Aero. "I know that voice."

"You do?" asked Seth.

"Of course," said Aero. "I'd know that sarcastic tone anywhere."

"Well?" asked Tyler.

"Who is it?" asked Ramon.

"Yeah, who is it?" repeated Jason.

"Starlie?" Aero called. "Is that you up there?"

"No way," said Seth.

"It can't be," said Ramon.

"That's not possible," said Tyler.

"But she' only as old as me," Jason whispered.

"There is no way that that little brat—" Elron started.

"You bet it is!" Starlie cut him off. "And I heard that! Who're you calling a brat? Ya moron!"

"How'd you get up there?" asked Aero in disbelief.

"I sprouted wings and flew," she said, her voice laced with sarcasm. "How do you think I got up here?"

"Who's that with you?" asked Seth.

"This is Conner," called Starlie, gesturing to him. "He's my new friend."

"Ah Ha!" exclaimed Elron. "I knew it! I knew you couldn't have gotten up there on your own! I knew there was no way that a little girl like you could get up there without a boy's help!"

"Okay, that's it," growled Starlie, clenching her fists and grinding her teeth. "I'm gonna bury that no good, lousy piece of—"

"Starlie," said Conner firmly, placing his hand on her shoulder. "Two things. One, remember to be careful on your way down. Two, can I help?"

"Of course," said Starlie, her face breaking out into a devilish grin.

"Great," said Conner. Then he turned and shouted to the boys below, "Just so you know, I didn't help her get up here at all. She got up her all on her own." Then he turned to follow Starlie down.

"You can have what's left of him, if there is anything left, once I'm done with him. Then you can help me get rid of the body," said Starlie.

"Okay, where do you suggest we dump him?"

"Well, I was thinking we should dump him near Cora's hideout. After all, it is a volcano, and that way his body couldn't be recovered. We could also dump all the stuff we use to kill him in there to so there isn't any evidence."

"What about security cameras?"

"Oh, good point. We'll have to get rid of those too. We are planning to take him while he's asleep, right?"

"That's what I was thinking."

"Good."

"So how exactly are we going to kill him? Will it be a slow or quick death?"

"I'm thinking slow. So now we get to the hard part, which slow way are we going to kill him by?"

"I don't know….the possibilities are practically endless…"

"Yeah, we could drain his body of all his blood…"

"Or cut him up, little by little…"

"Electrocute him, increasing the voltage each time and drawing it out for as long as possible…."

"So many things to choose from…"

"And all of them so appealing…"

"How will we ever figure out which one we want?"

"I don't know…..but I do know that I want to eat something before we put this into action."

"Good idea. I'm starving."

"Yeah, we were up there for most of the day. We missed lunch, but I'm sure we can steal something from the kitchen."

"Are you sure your parents won't mind?"

"Not at all, in fact," here Starlie jumped over to the first tree with Conner close behind her. "I seriously doubt they would know that anything's missing."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I think that mother might notice if we ate any of her cravings….but she wouldn't mind. Unless we finished them all….now that would piss her off."

"Why would she only notice that the foods she craves are depleted? I mean, I'm not an expert on the things mothers do, but I'm pretty sure that they cook…"

"In normal families they do, but my family lives in the castle, so the cooks do it."

"Oh….is your father on the V-force?" asked Conner. Starlie thought that she sensed a bit of worry in his voice.

"Yes, my mother is too." Starlie jumped down and winced. Her arm instinctively went to her rib cage. She grunted a bit and then straightened up and acted as though she was perfectly fine.

It's only partially physical, she told herself over and over again. The rest of it is mental! It doesn't hurt that bad!

"Starlie? Did you hurt yourself?" asked Aero.

She started to deny it, but Aero shot her his best I'm-older-and-I-know-you-so-don't-lie-to-me look. "Maybe…but it's not that bad," she added quickly. "I probably just got a big bruise. It'll be gone by this time next week."

"She's lying isn't she," Aero asked Conner, who had gotten down right after Starlie. He looked very nervous around all the kids.

"I wouldn't know," Conner lied smoothly. "I only just met her."

Note to self, thought Starlie. Ask Conner to teach me how to lie that well. "Come on," she said, grabbing Conner's hand. "Let's go raid the pantry. I'm starving."

Aero rolled his eyes, knowing that he was just going to have to trust Starlie's word. "Don't get caught by Nanny. You know that she hates it when we eat more than three meals a day," he said sarcastically.

"Relax," said Starlie, not turning to look at him. "My mom taught me how to sneak around and not get caught. Besides, I'm sure Nanny is probably off arranging those….." Starlie stopped for a moment. She was having trouble remembering what it was Nanny had told her she would be starting soon since she hadn't really been listening.

"What's wrong?" asked Seth.

"I can't remember what it was that Nanny told me I'd be starting soon…and I know that it has to be something girly 'cause I have this vague idea of a devious plan that I came up with to avoid them…." said Starlie as she sat down into her thinking pose.

"Linda was talking about how she wished she could take princess lessons….is that it?" asked Tyler.

"That is it!" exclaimed Starlie. Then she erupted into laughter. "And I have the perfect plan to avoid them all!" she exclaimed between fits of laughter. Her cousins were used to this, but Conner, who had only just met her and was not accustomed to and certainly did not expect to hear her frightening laugh, was startled by it.

Ramon noticed this and said, "Don't worry, Conner, this is just what she does after she gets one of her diabolical plans. And something you should know about her, she can make sounds that'll scare the shit outta ya."

"Oh…" said Conner. "That's good to know….I guess."

"Oops, sorry. I didn't mean to scare you," said Starlie. "Don't worry, I'm not that scary….I think."

"Is she?" Conner asked the boys.

"Well….." said Aero. "We're not too sure….she can be scary…but I don't think we've seen her go all out so…..she very well may be….but she usually means well….usually…"

"Unless you're him," said Conner, pointing to Elron.

"Huh? Why me?" asked Elron.

"Because we were plotting your demise on the way down…"

"SSSSHHHH! Don't warn him!" exclaimed Starlie.

"WHAT!" shouted Elron.

"Don't worry, we still have to work out the kinks and stuff. You've got a couple more…"

"Weeks?" asked Connor.

"Well…..maybe a week if he's lucky…"

"Are you sure? 'Cause we'll need to get all the equipment and such for whatever we're gonna do…."

"Good point….okay, so you have possibly two weeks to live," said Starlie. Then she turned around and started walking towards the castle again. They hadn't gone far when the ground started to shake. Ahead they could see a giant roebeast beginning an attack on the castle. However, they didn't get to think about it too much because they were sucked into a tractor beam, along with the other children.


End file.
